1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to secure communication systems and methods, specifically a system and method of storing data.
2. Description of the Related Art
The storage of large amounts of data, especially for large organizations, such as but not limited to hospitals, retail chains, governments, and the like, is a critical function that is vulnerable to many problems. Failure to manage these issues can result in major problems for the operations of the organization and may even result in legal liability. Further, privacy issues become more and more important as more and more of our personal information is stored with these organizations and there is no specific promise of confidentiality. Worse, there are organizations that seek to obtain this private information for their own purposes that are often against the interests of the organizations storing the data and against the interests of the people that are the subject of the data storage.
Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below in their own words, and the supporting teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,074,889, issued to Beenau et al., discloses a system and methods for biometric security using biometrics in a transponder-reader system. The biometric security system also includes a biometric sensor that detects biometric sample and a device for verifying biometric samples. In one embodiment, the biometric security system includes a transponder configured with a biometric sensor. In another embodiment, the system includes a reader configured with a biometric sensor. The device for verifying samples compares the biometric samples with information stored on the databases.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2010/0153722, by Bauchot et al., discloses a method and system for verifying a user's identity within a virtual world environment. The verification is to be in real-time and avoids the possibility of providing credential (e.g., biometric information) that were previously authentication, by sending to the user a time-sensitive challenge and requiring the user to provide the requested credentials (e.g., biometric information) within a predetermined time period. Therefore, the present invention is best positioned for environments where trusted identification of a user is needed online to facilitate secure transactions.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2010/0150353, by Bauchot et al., discloses an apparatus and method for verifying a user, via captured biometric characteristics of the user, who is interacting online. The captured biometrics are guaranteed to be captured in real-time, and avoids the possibility of providing biometrics that were previously captured, by sending to the user a time-sensitive challenge and requiring the user to provide the requested biometric information within a predetermined time period. Therefore, the present invention is best positioned for environments where trusted identification of a user is needed online to facilitate secure transactions.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2010/0064359, by Boss et al., discloses an user credential verification indication in a virtual universe is disclosed. A method, system and program product are provided that include verifying a credential of the user of a first avatar in the virtual universe; and establishing a zone that causes an indication of the credential of the user of the first avatar to appear in response to an action being taken relative to the zone.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2010/0046806, by Baughman et al., discloses a system and method for virtual world biometric analytics through the use of a multimodal biometric analytic wallet. The system includes a virtual biometric wallet comprising a pervasive repository for storing biometric data, the pervasive repository including at least one of a biometric layer, a genomic layer, a health layer, a privacy layer, and a processing layer. The virtual biometric wallet further comprises an analytic environment configured to combine the biometric data from at least one of the biometric layer, the genomic layer, the health layer, the privacy layer, and the processing layer. The virtual biometric wallet also comprises a biometric analytic interface configured to communicate the biometric data to one or more devices within a virtual universe.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being limited in use, being limited in application, being limited in compatibility, being limited in capabilities, being not anonymous, being not private, being unduly complex, being limited in security, exposing large amounts of data to risk by breach/crack of a single encryption key, requiring too much computational overhead, slowing access to data, making it difficult for entities to access their own data, and the like and combinations thereof.
What is needed is a system and/or method of storing data that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.